Video games typically involve user interaction to generate visual feedback on a display. For instance, controllers are oftentimes used to manipulate games. According to an example, a controller can be employed to manipulate a game executed on a video game console, which can cause visual content to be rendered on a display (e.g., television, monitor, etc.). An example of an early controller employed to manipulate a game is a joystick that includes one button. However, modern controllers with a plurality of analog and discrete inputs have more recently become more prevalent. By way of illustration, controllers employed with video game consoles commonly include analog thumbstick(s), analog trigger(s), discrete button(s), and/or directional pad(s). Accordingly, games that can be executed on consoles have become more sophisticated to take advantage of the variety of inputs provided by the modern controllers.
As mobile touch-enabled devices have become more ubiquitous, versions of console-based games that can be executed on mobile touch-enabled devices have become more commonly available. However, a user experience when interacting with a version of a game on a mobile touch-enabled device is oftentimes degraded as compared to a user experience when interacting with a version of that game on the video game console. The user experience can be detrimentally impacted, for example, since mobile touch-enabled devices conventionally fail to provide tactile feedback similar to controllers for consoles.
Moreover, the user experience can be degraded since mobile touch-enabled devices are typically relegated to using less complex control models with fewer inputs compared to control models employed by controllers for consoles. For example, a mobile touch-enabled device commonly has two points of control (e.g., the two thumbs), while a conventional controller for a console oftentimes has more than the two points of control. When the mobile touch-enabled device is held by the user, the user can touch a display of the mobile touch-enabled device with her two thumbs, while her other fingers are typically used to hold the mobile touch-enabled device. Further, if the user tries to hold the mobile touch-enabled device with more fingers on the display (e.g., a thumb and at least one additional finger of a hand), then a natural range of motion of her thumbs can be limited, particularly for larger mobile touch-enabled devices. In contrast, a conventional controller oftentimes includes triggers and/or buttons positioned to be operated by fingers other than the thumbs of the user when the controller is being held. If a less complex control model is utilized with a mobile touch-enabled device, then some operations that can be manipulated by a user in a version of a game for a console can be unavailable in a version of the game for the mobile touch-enabled device, which can result in a diminished user experience.